Local agriculture aims for top global 15: PM

He made the request at a national conference in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on July 30 that sought solutions to attract more business investments in the agriculture sector. The conference, the largest of its kind, attracted the participation of more than 800 representatives of businesses, associations, and international organisations, along with experts and scientists. The leader set the target of Vietnam becoming one of the world’s top intensive agricultural processing and trade promotion centres in the next decade. To that end, the key barriers in the way lie with enterprises investing in this sphere, he said, urging ministries and localities to continue with administrative reform, especially land-related procedures. The PM suggested that 50 percent of administrative procedures in agriculture and rural development be reduced, with tax procedures streamlined. He also underlined the need to improve the quality of planning work and competitiveness, and focus on vegetables and fruit, seafood, herbal medicine, and other key products like rice. PM Phuc called for efforts to revamp mechanisms on trade promotion, thus helping businesses access foreign markets, especially those in China, the US, and the EU. Apart from increasing loans for individuals and households to the maximum level without mortgages, it is necessary to extend those entitled to credit policies in high-tech agriculture, he said. The leader requested that domestic enterprises and businesspeople carry forward the startup spirit and corporate ethics, while joining hands with the Government and farmers to bring Vietnamese farm produce abroad. According to the Ministry of… [Read full story]